With season 8 of League of Legends now history, the offseason has returned to the forefront as pro teams are adjusting themselves in preparation for next year. Whether it is by signing new players or releasing them as a means to improve play, teams are doing everything they can to increase their chances of hoisting the Summoner’s Cup in one year’s time.
And that is why after just a few days into the official start of the offseason news have already circulated throughout the community regarding high-level player transactions. Most notably, SK Telecom T1, the only 3-time World Champion in LoL history, announced they are releasing 7 of their players from their roster into free agency. This comes after a disappointing season where they ended up failing to qualify for Worlds despite achieving immense success a few years’ prior.
The list of players that were released include Park “Thal” Kwon-hyuk, Park “Untara” Ui-jin, Kang “Blank” Sun-gu, Choi “Pirean” Jun-sik, Park “Blossom” Beom-chan, Bae “Bang” Jun-sik, and Lee “Wolf” Jae-wan.
It’s a sad ending for fans of this team as some of the released players had been with them for virtually their entire careers. While some members of the released group couldn’t compare to their long-tenured teammates, they still should be acknowledged for their services with utmost sincerity and appreciation.
Bang and Wolf joined the team in 2014 as they moved from SKT’s secondary squad (SKT T1 S) to the main team. From there, they played a major part in capturing 2 of SKT’s 3 world titles by their forming of a lethal duo in the bottom lane. As such, they were a feared unit in their peak which ultimately led to fans and rivals alike calling them “Bang-Wolf”.
Blank signed on with the team the next year in 2015 as their Jungler after leaving Star Horn Royal Club, a Chinese team. His contribution, along with that of “Bengi” helped SKT maintain their dominance of the LoL competitive scene throughout 2016 and 2017.
”Untara” was signed in the summer of 2017 to command the team’s top lane, and although his skills led to good results in the onset of his tenure (they reached the finals of Worlds 2017 where they ended up losing 3-0 to Samsung Galaxy), it wasn’t good enough by SKT’s standards as they subsequently finished in sub-par positions for the ensuing tournaments the next year. Nevertheless, his play is still respectable as it was enough to be caught on by SKT.
The same could be said about “Blossom” and “Thal” as they joined the team in early January this year. Unfortunately, the same story played out for the two with regard to their top lane comrade as they didn’t boost the team’s standing in the LCK (League of Legends Champions Korea; the main domestic league for Korea in LoL). For reference, they finished 7th in the LCK Summer Split and 4th in the Regional Finals, which wasn’t enough to qualify for Worlds.
